Press Box

Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her tirade at a U.S. Open line judge and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam event in the next two years. Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock's ruling was released Monday, and he said Williams faces a "probationary period" at tennis' four major championships in 2010 and 2011. If she has another "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

Pimlico Race Course Press box renamed to honor former Sun reporter Kelly Before Sunday's first race, the Pimlico Race Course press box was renamed to include Joe Kelly , who covered horse racing for nearly 70 years before his death in November at age 94. Kelly began his career at The Baltimore Sun in the 1940s, then moved in 1955 to The Washington Star, where he spent the next 26 years. After retiring, he became the publicity director for the Maryland Million and was Pimlico's historical consultant until his death.

At some point today, probably a couple hours before the first pitch is thrown by Jake Arrieta in the 2013 home opener at Camden Yards, I will grab a copy of the Orioles' daily game notes, and place them on the press box ledge in front of my work station. They'll stay there all game. Untouched. I assume I'll do that for a chunk of games this season, just as a reminder. The Orioles' public relations staff puts a lot of time into creating those notes packets. And I'll surely use another copy for my writing purposes Friday.

For the past three weeks, defensive coordinator Dean Pees has been calling plays from the press box instead of the sideline, and the Ravens have won three straight. He apparently isn't going to return to the field soon. "When you're upstairs, it expedites the call," said Pees. "You might think that might go the other way around, but being upstairs is actually faster. I used to have to wait to hear what the down and distance were. Sometimes, the ball was across the field and I couldn't tell if it was a hash call or a middle-of-the-field call.

Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees is making a smart move by calling his defenses from the press box instead of being on the field. I can understand each method -- staying on the field or up in the press box -- but the Ravens have a lot of young players on the field, with the exception of safety Ed Reed and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs. I'm not sure the communication with Pees was as good as it should have been, especially when you lose players like Ray Lewis and Lardarius Webb to injuries, or veterans like Jarret Johnson or Cory Redding to free agency.

Dean Pees estimated that in his 25 years as a defensive coordinator, he's spent about 12 of the seasons calling plays from a coaching booth upstairs and 13 of them doing it from the sidelines. Pees, the Ravens' first-year defensive coordinator, was on the sideline for the team's first seven games but decided to move upstairs for the 25-15 victory over the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. Pees said that he was pleased with how the arrangement, which included the rest of the defensive coaching staff down on the sidelines, worked out. "After the bye week, I just felt like there is some information sometimes that I could utilize a little quicker in making adjustments and making some calls.

NPR sports commentator Frank Deford threw propriety to the wind Wednesday morning in favor of hometown pride and loyalty, admitting on air that he was rooting -- hard -- for the Orioles. Deford, who grew up in North Baltimore, first explained that when it comes to sports teams, folks need to dance with the one that brung ya. "My first protocol in rooting in sports is you should stick with the teams you grew up with," he said. "Continuing to cheer for your original hometown teams is one way of displaying the old-fashioned value of allegiance.

One of the great pleasures of baseball is arguing about what should happen, what moves need to be made -- as if we all can see into the future and know more than the field personnel. After Wei-Yin Chen turned in another sub-par, late-season outing, the three Sun baseball writers in the press box Monday night discussed who we would give the ball to start a one-game playoff. It's an interesting debate. And it's germane too, since the Orioles very well could find themselves in that situation in a wild-card playoff next week.

One of the big discussions in the press box before Friday's game was whether Jason Hammel will be an All-Star. Not whether he is worthy - he has been the Orioles' best starter this season - but whether he'll be named to the team. Because the biggest thing holding Jason Hammel back at a chance for the American League All-Star squad is his name. He is Jason Hammel. And his chief competition to make the All-Star team includes guys who have been in the top tier for a while: Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, CC Sabathia and David Price to name a few. Even the upstarts have a higher profile: Chris Sale, Yu Darvish and Brandon McCarthy, who could be the Oakland A's only representative.

To no one's surprise, Saturday in Long Island broke gloomily, with neither dark angry clouds nor a blazing sun. The sky just hovered, as did an unmoving humidity. The clouds are burning off now, and it could be a sunny afternoon. Belmont Park feels crowded and cramped. Everything is behind some sort of barrier. Every passage way is too narrow for the people trying to get through it. What should have been the anxious buzz of people hoping to see history is now the unsettled disappointment of knowing they won't . The crowd isn't nearly what it would have been but it's still large and, remember, there's nobody allowed out in the infield here.

Though I'd like to write about Saturday's Class 3A state baseball final being the highlight of my work as a journalist, a flawless pitchers' duel that went into extra innings tied 0-0, or 1-1, and from which emerged an ace hurler who went the distance in the final game of his high school career to bring home the title, it just did not live up to the hype I had created in my own head (I'm always hoping for a high school version of game seven of the...